The Bracelet
by Duilin
Summary: Celegorm has lost his bracelet - and this wouldn't have been a problem; Curufin could have just made him a new one. But he's rather attached to this certain bracelet.


**I was really bored... And then I glanced at my bracelet and started imagining Celegorm with one. This is where it ended up.**

_Note: Elvish customs -_  
><em>Elves usually celebrated the day of their conception, one year before they are born.<em>

**Also, I'm really, really sorry, but this isn't exactly canonical, since the years won't fit, and if I convert to Sun Years, it still wouldn't fit. So let's just go with Tyelkormo being two hundred years old, shall we? Oh, by the way, Tyelkormo wears all jewelry on his dominant hand, in this story, in case you were wondering.**

* * *

><p>"Curufin, have you seen my bracelet?" I asked, throwing clothes out of their drawers, dismantling pillows and sheets from the bed, and at last giving up with a frustrated sigh and falling backwards onto the very bed that I had unmade completely.<p>

Slowly, and not taking his gaze away from his own necklace, he responded, "No. What does it look like?" He was yet again setting the stone into the necklace - and how many times had it fallen out again? Perhaps tree sap wasn't enough to keep it in place.

Staring up at the ceiling in frustration, I told him, calmly, though my urgency barely restrained, "Adjustable black cord string, with kaleidoscopic pebbles that you picked out. In Tirion. Don't you remember? You made it for me." At 'black cord', I was expecting him to raise his head up in comprehension.

"No, I do not recall. Try retracing your steps," he suggested, lowering the necklace onto the table gingerly.

"I haven't seen it since yesterday."

"You won't see it again if you don't try retracing your steps."

Sighing, I strode out of the room and down the hallway. How could Curufin not remember? He made it himself - a bracelet with adjustable knots, and pebbles that he had gone searching for at the pond. The hallways were very much silent, with only torches to light the way, and my mind started to wander in all different directions. I continuously thought back to the bracelet, but something eluded my memory from recalling where I last put it.

And then, one snatch of thought was gone, and I could not remember what it was. However, I was reminded of the past.

* * *

><p>The first time I ever looked Curvo, he was a small bundle, wrapped in soft fabric so his delicate skin would not be chafed. He was adorable, to say the least, and marvelous to behold because of his similarities to Atar. Moreover, though I would have never purposely said this in the presence of Atar, I could not imagine Atar looking like an adorable little child. At all. They had the same grey eyes, but then again, we all inherited it. It was the authority in them, as if Curvo knew he all had us wrapped around his finger.<p>

And he did.

But he nearly broke off mine when I gently prodded his palm. He had a strong grip too - good for a smith.

The second time I _truly_ looked at him, he was grown to my waist and still gaining height. It took me several times to notice, and by then, I was so shocked that I had not come into cognizance before. Haru had to point it out himself before I realised what had happened beneath my nose, literally and figuratively.

Then, I had gone on a hunting expedition, hosted by Oromë, with ten Elves chosen to bring back meat for the city. I had been gone for two months, with sudden notice, out hunting deer with my fellow companions and Vala. When I was given leave to return to Tirion, along with me came two deer that I could not bear to kill, since overproduction would only protect their population so much before they died out. I was on the doorstep, and when Ammë answered the door, she gasped at the two animals nudging my shoulders.

Later that night, when I was tucking Curvo into bed, he told me, sincerity reflected in his innocent eyes, that I reminded him of a deer, graceful, but hidden beneath the grace a wild animal waiting to be set free. I smiled and got into bed next to him, patting his head. He soon fell asleep, his breathing the rhythmic music that I only needed to fall asleep next to him, with my arms wrapped around him protectively. Of course, he woke up complaining about how it was too warm.

I had long since stopped counting how many times, but I was sure that this was the tenth, when I entered the forge and saw him hunched over his mysterious craft on the work table.

"Curvo," I said, in a sing-song voice. "What are you doing?"

Upon hearing my voice, he slumped his shoulders even further, and I blinked, walking up behind him.

Softly, I tried coaxing a reaction out of him again. "Are you hurt?" I asked worriedly.

"No," he replied stiffly, slightly shifting his body so I could not see his hands.

Sighing, and knowing that I would not get a proper response, I wrapped my arms around him and lifted him off of the bench, and knocking it over in succession. Then I sat down on one that was seated upwards and grinned into Curvo's ear. "Want to go ride Huan? He just woke up, and now he's ready for exercise, since we haven't gone hunting in a long time."

Annoyed, Curvo turned around and glared at me. "Put me down. If you don't, I'm not going to give you your present."

I blinked, confused. "Present?"

Curvo frowned. "Don't you remember what tomorrow will be?"

"...No." I racked my mind for some sort of hint, and Curvo's frown was slightly unsettling. Had I forgotten his conception day? "Is it important?'

"It's your conception day!"

Well, I couldn't help myself, but I started to laugh. "My conception day? Is that it?"

"You forgot," he clarified to himself flatly.

"Curvo... Can you honestly expect me to remember such things? I'm quite nearly two hundred years old—"

"Two hundred tomorrow."

"Yes, thank you. But it's so pointless, to celebrate my conception day. I don't want it to be in honor of the third time Atar touched Amm—perhaps we should not speak of such things; never mind. But I really appreciate the present. Can I see it?" Without even intending to, I had loosened my hold, and he easily slipped off of my lap and went to cover whatever it was with his small, slender hands. Then he looked at me, as if daring me to step one foot out of line.

"No."

"Oh, come on, Curvo!" I complained, a grin on my face. "You said you would give me my present if I let you go."

He shook his head and looked at me pityingly, and I knew, in that moment, that he had outwitted me. As usual. "I never said I would give it to you even if you let me go."

With a dramatic sigh, I stood up and collapsed to the floor, throwing an arm over my eyes and lying spread-eagled on the floor of the forge. Irritated, but worried as well, Curvo sank to his knees next to me and prodded my side. It was sincerely too bad for him that I was not ticklish there...

"Get up," he said exasperatedly.

I did not respond, but closed my eyes. He simply righted his work bench and seated himself back upon it, and I listened to the sound of tugging and chafing, and then rocks dropping onto the table. I quieted my breathing to inaudibility and waited for him to finish, deciding against abruptly whistling for Huan. The last image of him with an annoyed look on his face reminded me a lot of Atar, and his annoyed looks at all of his sons. I really wanted to grin then, but self-restraint allowed me to endure my silence.

Then, I heard a rustling movement, and I felt something being tied around my wrist. Curvo's fingers occasionally brushed against the back of my hand, but his fingers were quick and agile to the finish. Waiting for the signal to open my eyes, I allowed my mind to wander in serenity.

"Open your eyes," he demanded.

Nearly smirking, I waited several seconds before complying and lifting my left wrist to my eye. I then glanced to Curvo and grinned as he scowled at me, for he was blushing as well.

"Stop smiling," he snapped, turning away, with his cheeks flushing even redder.

"Come here."

"What?"

I held my arms out in front of me. "Give big brother a hug."

Reluctantly, Curvo scooted over and awkwardly leaned into my embrace.

"Happy conception day tomorrow, you idiot," he muttered.

* * *

><p>Without even knowing it, I was back my chambers, and Curvo was still inside, placing the necklace on the stand. He looked up at my entrance, but I simply shook my head and took his right wrist in my hand, lifting it up to the light. And there it was, resting on his wrist where I had placed it yesterday.<p>

"Found it," I told him.

Curvo smiled, though whether mocking or sincere I did not know. "It seems you have." He adjusted the strings and slipped the bracelet off, handing it to me. "You could have just asked me to make a new one. Now that my skill has increased, I could set sapphires in the gold. Better than the string bracelet."

I shook my head. "This has sentimental value."

"Sentimental value? It is only an artifact of our oppression by the Valar. But keep it if you will."

I tightened the strings with my teeth and right hand, sighing.

Times were changing.

But maybe I just wanted to keep one remnant of the past.

* * *

><p><strong>Yup. Fluff? Probably.<strong>

_Quenya:  
>Haru<em> - Grandfather


End file.
